In spite of a noble lineage tracing back to Sundiata Keita, the 13th-century founder of the Malian empire, Salif Keita grew up as an outsider in several important respects. First, he was raised not in an environment of royal affluence but in a poor farming household. Second, owing to his albinism—a condition traditionally viewed as a harbinger of misfortune—he found himself a pariah, rejected by both his family and his community. His choice to pursue music, moreover, violated the occupational prohibitions of his noble status and, consequently, distanced him even farther from his family.

When he was 18 years old, Keita moved to Mali’s capital, Bamako, and began performing as a singer in nightclubs. After about two years, he joined the popular government-sponsored group Rail Band, notable for its electrified mixture of traditional Mande music and Afro-Caribbean popular styles. In the early 1970s Keita and Rail Band guitarist Kanté Manfila left for Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, to join Les Ambassadeurs du Motel (later Les Ambassadeurs Internationales), a rival group that was similarly recognized for its fusion of local African traditions with internationally appealing popular genres. By the late ’70s Keita’s singing and innovative work with Les Ambassadeurs resonated strongly and positively beyond the boundaries of Côte d’Ivoire and Mali; for his ever-broadening fan base, he was the “golden voice of Africa.” Indeed, in 1977 Guinean president Sékou Touré conferred on him the National Order of Guinea, a prestigious honour. Keita reciprocated by composing “Mandjou,” a praise song for Touré and the people of Mali. The song was accompanied melodically by guitars, organ, and saxophone—a combination that had by that time become Keita’s signature sound.

In the early 1980s Keita moved to Paris to pursue a solo career. His highly successful debut album, Soro (1987), was a remarkably adventurous work, tapping stylistic elements from American and European rock and pop music, jazz, funk, and rhythm and blues and fusing them with Mande music, especially hunters’ songs. Of several albums released in the 1990s, Amen (1991) was the most enthusiastically received. Keita returned to Bamako in 2001 and released Moffou to great acclaim the following year. For the album, Keita recorded with numerous guest artists representing a broad spectrum of African and non-African acoustic traditions.

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As one of several family members who had experienced firsthand the challenges of albinism, Keita established in 2005 the Salif Keita Global Foundation, an organization dedicated to raising awareness of the struggles of albinos and to ensuring their equitable treatment in all societies. He addressed his own albinism in his 2009 release, La différence, a musical celebration of difference. Proceeds from the album were donated to his foundation.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Virginia Gorlinski, Associate Editor.

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